Saints Row is back, and there isn't much more to say about it. You know what to expect. The problem? It is 2010 anymore...
If any of you got the pun I made at the very, very beginning of this article then I appreciate your appreciation. The reality of this situation is that back in the early 2010s Saints Row was all the rage. Want to drive down the road, naked, with a giant purple dildo? Well, in Saints Row 3 that's exactly what you could do. It was awesome.
Well, it was awesome in the early 2010s. It's not anymore. In fact, considering how well GTA Online has done and how great that game is, it's kind of unbelievable that they would make another one of these games and basically just make it exactly what was so great ten years ago.
There has been a lot of footage put out and, of course, it was shown off at Summer Games Fest. Exciting, right? Well, I guess. I don't want to be too down on this particular game, but to be honest, it looks like they are doing GTA Online... ten years too late. Why, Deep Silver, why?
What Does Saints Row Need to Do?
Saints Row needs to do two main things if it stands any chance of actually being a success: it needs to have a robust and fantastic online infrastructure and it needs to double down on the absurd. It can't just do that, though, because we can always play those old games if we want the absurd. Or play Grand Theft Auto Online. It also needs to forge its own identity and not just be a cringe-fest.
In the end, Saints Row might be all about the god-darn bizarreness, but it's also about the gameplay itself and its ability to tell a fun story. If they combine that with an excellent online experience then how they hell could they not be successful? Well, considering that Grand Theft Auto Online is literally all of the things that I just described... yeah, it's an uphill battle.
The other thing to think about is that Rockstar is their competitor. Rockstar. They scream quality, and I just don't see that level of quality coming out of Saints Row. Again, it has become abundantly clear: Saints Row is just doing GTA Online but ten years too late. Agreed? Okay, let's move on.